What about hazing?
Were there even any real incidents of hazing this year? Besides the command chief doing his job, I never heard of any.
C/Col Feinstein

I felt that the cadet staff did a good job of keeping the basics motivated. With the Senior Members, it was hit or miss. Usually, though, they went too easy on us. I personally never felt that I experienced hazing.

Although some people would consider yelling at cadets hazing, I think that that yelling is necessary. In fact, I wish cadet staff were allowed to yell at individual cadets, because sometimes it is necessary to hold individuals accountable to the flight, especially if it is obvious that they aren't giving their best effort. In my opinion, true, inappropriate hazing is when discipline is without cause, or taken to an extreme that could cause physical harm, or serious damage
to a cadet's self-esteem. There were some times when I was even glad that our flight was being yelled at because some members were not giving their best, or taking things seriously enough. I felt that the in-processing experience was necessary, and should not be changed. Encampment should not be easy for basics, it needs to be a military atmosphere if they are to get out of it the experience/knowledge that encampment is intended to give/teach them.

C/TSgt Daniel Otto

I never felt that I experienced hazing either, I was just wondering if anyone did.
However, it did seem like some cadets were a lot more intimidated by the cadet staff than others. This was especially true for cadets who were returning as a basic.
From what it seemed like, the staff was allowed to yell at their flight a lot but not very much at individuals unless they were specifically correcting something. This sort of was a problem because, at least in our flight, certain people needed more discipline than others. Basically people would know they couldn't be terribly yelled at and slack off, bringing the whole flight down.
Is there a fine line between "hazing" and not hazing? Is there "inappropriate" and "appropriate" hazing? Or are situations like this just something cadet flights have to deal with?
C/SMSgt Holly Riley

The definition of hazing is covered in Required Staff Training (RST) which is required for cadet staff at encampments. It was the SMs,this year, that prohibited cadet staff from yelling at one specific basic. As has been said before, it was the SMs that primarily interfered with training at this encampment.
C/Col Feinstein

I felt that this year the cadets were motivated by their desire to finish encampment well. A lot of their motivation came from their staff, who did an excellent job of motivating and keeping cadets up to standard. However, a lot of their motivation comes from themselves. If a basic doesn't want to do something, and he doesn't recognize the need for cooperation, then that cadet will be very difficult to work with. I'm glad that the cadet staff were able to help basics become motivated, even if they weren't at first. The chance to impersonate the cadet staff on Wednesday was a great way to relax. It was fun, and necessary for those who needed a little motivation. Overall, I felt that motivation was high; from the basics, and especially from the cadet staff.
C/MSgt Pressley

i think that it needs to be made more clear to the flight commander, and sergeant that the serious yelling needs to be done on the first two days, but that extending the serious yelling much past that could bring down the morale of the flight. this is something that i saw from my flight. but an extent of yelling defiantly is needed through out the majority of the encampment.
C/MSgt Horner

To all basics editing this site:
What was most motivating at encampment?
What brought your morale down the most?
You can answer this personally, or for your flight.
C/SMSgt Holly Riley

What really de-motivated me were cadets in my flight who had given up, were not trying their hardest, or were putting their wishes above the needs of the flight.
C/TSgt Daniel Otto